Never Alone
by LineOfDurin77
Summary: The brothers fight side by side as always. A short one-shot on the end of the Battle of Five Armies. Written from Fili's point of view, with the second and last chapter being Kili's point of view of the same scene. Expanding on Tolkien's descriptions from the book. DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of Tolkien's works.
1. Chapter 1

Fili knew his role in this battle.

The same as his role in life.

_Big brother._

Winning would be a bonus. Fili was fighting to keep his little brother safe.

The brothers had fought side by side or back to back throughout the entire battle, just as they had their entire life. He remembered something his mother had said once, when his father died all those years ago, that he had "died as he lived". _We fight as we live. Side by side. Together. Always. _

And then an orc attacked Fili, and he was separated from Kili. Not intentionally. The orc backed him into a corner, and after several minutes of one-on-one fighting, Fili could feel himself begin to tire. Still, all the time, at the back of his mind- _Get back to Kili, you must, hurry, as fast as you can, get back to Kili, little brother, stay with him, protect him-_

And then Kili screamed in agony. The sound of his brother's hurt ripped through Fili's soul, paining him far more than a thousand orc arrows. He turned, and saw his brother, blood running freely from a wound in his shoulder.

"_KILI!_" he screamed, and his brother looked up at him. Fili saw the silent plea in the young dwarf's dark eyes.

_Brother…._

Before Fili could move, he felt a fire of agony in his side. Gasping for breath, he looked down to see an arrow sticking out of his left side. _No…_ the pain was fire running through his blood, the pain was torture, he wanted to scream and scream and scream, he wanted the pain gone…. With an enormous effort, he turned back to see Kili collapse on the ground.

_"NOOOO!"_ With an inhuman yell, Fili killed his attacker and raced to his brother's side, all pain forgotten. _Kili, no, please, not Kili, please, not Kili, I can protect him, let me protect him, I promised, please, no, not Kili…._

Fili collapsed at his brother's side, no longer able to hold himself up. "Kili," he whispered. Covered in blood, his younger brother lay completely still on the ground. "Kili, please, wake up." Tears trickled down Fili's face. The pain of his wounds was nothing compared to this. "Kili," he sobbed. "Wake up. Don't leave me here alone…"

Slowly the dwarf's eyes flickered open. Kili's dark eyes met his older brother's and he gripped Fili's hand, hard, and looked at him with eyes full of trust. "Fili…" he breathed.

"I'm here," Fili said. "Kili, I'm here."

"Stay with me, brother," he choked, struggling for breath.

"I will stay with you, Kili," Fili whispered. "I will never let you go alone. I will always be with you, brother… always."

The faintest trace of a smile touched Kili's lips, and then, with one last shuddering breath, the young dwarf closed his eyes for the last time.

_I will never let you go alone. _Blinking back tears, Fili gave up his struggle, and, closing his eyes, let his last sleep overtake him.

The brothers died as they lived. Together. Forever.

_I will never let you go alone, brother._


	2. Chapter 2

Battle was not about glory or heroics.

Battle was about surviving, about fighting through.

Kili had always been able to fight through, as long as he had his brother by his side.He would get through this battle. He and Fili both.

Kili fought like a machine, without thinking, detached. Killing one orc after another, on and on and on. The blood, the shouts, the screaming, the orcs- it was neverending. On and on and on he fought. _You must keep going. You must fight through. You must survive._

_ You and Fili both._

He looked around for his brother. Half a minute ago Fili had been right behind him, the brothers fighting back to back as they had so often before. Kili's eyes scanned the battlefield, searching, searching, for the one he called _brother_.

There he was.

Kili's heartbeat quickened. An orc had cornered Fili against the stone side of the mountain, and though the blonde dwarf was an expert fighter, Kili could sense, from many years of fighting side by side with his brother, that Fili was growing tired.

_No, brother, I'm coming-_

Kili sprinted to his brother's side, slipping in the mud in blood, panting. His body was wearing down, he could feel it. _Ignore it, ignore it, Fili, you can fight through it, for Fili-_

Suddenly a roar of pain hit him, and his consciousness spun. Agony such as he had never known before surged through his entire body, and Kili couldn't go on. _Make it stop, make the pain stop, anything, anything-_ Ragged screams echoed in his ears, torn through his brain, shook his very being until he thought he should die. _Let me die, let the pain go away, let me go-_

"_KILI!" _

Kili blinked slowly, every movement causing him pain. _Fili…_ his brother had screamed his name. _Fili..._ he had to stay... stay awake... _Fili_... Kili gasped for breath, his dark eyes searching frantically for his brother. _Fili..._

His dark eyes met Fili's stormy blue ones across the battlefield. Kili couldn't move, couldn't speak, but looked at his brother with eyes full of pleading. _Brother..._

He couldn't do anything without Fili.

Nothing at all.

Kili collapsed on the ground.

_"NOOOOO!"_ His brother's screams hurt almost as much as Kili's wounds. _Don't, Fili... you can't... be sad... just... help me... I need you..._

And suddenly Fili was beside him. "Kili." His brother's voice, so familiar, the voice that had stayed with him, through his childhood, through his entire life, reached Kili's ears. "Kili, please wake up." _I can't... it's too hard... I don't want to... I can stay like this... as long as you're with me, brother... _"Kili, wake up! Don't leave me here alone..."

Fili was in pain. Kili could hear the agony in his brother's voice, and finally he forced his eyes open. "Fili..."

"I'm here," his brother whispered. "Kili, I'm here."

_Always... here... for me..._ "Stay with me, brother." Kili choked out the words. It was hard to breathe, too hard.

"I will stay with you, Kili. I will never let you go alone. I will always be with you, brother... always."

_I love you, big brother._ Kili knew he could go in peace now. He let out his breath and gave up his struggle.

He could not survive this one, but he would fight through with his brother. Together. Forever.

_ Come with me, brother._

_ I know you won't leave me alone for long._


End file.
